I’ve been designing and making websites for a living since 1994.
I went to Berklee College of Music in Boston for a while, then studied programming and ended up in Dallas TX working for H. Ross Perot at EDS. I didn’t mesh well with the corporate, suit and tie thing so I went back to Boston and formed a rock band. We played in town mostly, NYC a bunch and we even toured a bit throughout New England and some southern states.
At one point the band all lived together in a big house in Allston MA (a mile down Mass Ave. from the city) and one day a band mate brought home a bunch of used 386 machines. We loaded up Mozilla, Photoshop, 3D Studio, Corel Draw and a bunch of other stuff. We started making websites. We then met up with Aerosmith and talked them into letting us do their first website. I made their homepage, the space donut. Then we got Phish, MMW, Blue Note Records, and the Rolling Stones. We made an e-commerce package for non-techies and a web portal for them to host them. Then the company was bought so we got a bunch of money, hired 30 people, got an office upgrade, I got married and had two kids. Then the crash. In September 2001 we all got laid off and I’ve been freelance ever since.
I now live in Pittsburgh with my wife and two kids. I work at home and enjoy a 30 second commute to work. I build websites and have about 20 or so clients who I do maintenance and consulting for. I’ve been very lucky.
Non Critical Data
BS Software Engineering – Colorado Technical University
Diploma – Computer Tech., Pittsburgh, PA
Two Semesters – Berklee College of Music, Boston, MA
Married: Cheryl Neary from Revere MA
Daughter: Cori Ann Sheppard – born February 7, 2000
Son: Nolan Charles Sheppard – born January 26, 2002